Upcoming Year 2025 Appears Favorable for Stocks to Reach Lunar Heights (Literally Speaking)
In a decade, the landscape of space exploration has undergone a significant transformation.
Back in the day, when NASA's ambitious Project Artemis was just picking up steam, the agency handed out contracts primarily to privately owned space companies. This sparked a lament among investors who missed out on the opportunity to invest in space-related stocks.
Fast forward a decade, and a few of these New Space corporations have finally hit the public markets. With NASA still dishing out contracts and uplifting the revenues of space start-ups, it seems plausible that more companies might opt for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the upcoming years.
Inside the grand scheme of Project Artemis, aerospace titans like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and L3Harris might find themselves gobbling up the majority of the work. SpaceX and Blue Origin, popular for their lunar landers, continue to dominate headlines.
However, it's the lesser-known space companies that might steal the limelight in the near future. Keep an eye on these four such space companies as 2025 rolls in.
Firefly Aerospace
In a recent SpaceX launch from Kennedy Space Center, Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lunar lander, established onboard a Falcon 9 rocket, joined SpaceX's other lunar lander en route to the moon. This lander, designed to carry a payload of 150 kg to the lunar surface, is a testament to Firefly's prowess.
But here's the intriguing part – despite operating a fleet of self-sufficient Alpha-class rocketships, Firefly Aerospace required SpaceX to lift its Blue Ghost to the moon. Why, you ask? The Alpha's payload capacity is only 1 ton to low Earth orbit, whereas Blue Ghost has a mass of 2.7 tons.
In response, Firefly is developing a new, robust rocket called the MLV, slated to fly in 2026. A successful flight and moon mission may put Firefly in a position to independently transport payloads to the moon.
ispace Japan
This second lunar lander launched by SpaceX is none other than ispace's Resilience. Smaller than Firefly's, Resilience has a payload capacity of only 30 kg. The tiny lunar rover, named Tenacious, will lead to an exciting mission if everything goes as planned.
Sadly, 2023 saw ispace's Hakuto-R lander, similar to Resilience, crash-land on the moon after running out of fuel. This latest endeavor, scheduled to reach the moon no sooner than May 2025, aims to rectify those past mistakes.
Intuitive Machines
Curiously, Intuitive Machines, as a publicly traded stock, may arrive at the moon before ispace's Resilience, despite launching later. In 2024, Intuitive Machines stunned the world with a mostly successful landing of its IM-1 Odysseus lander on the moon.
NASA subsequently awarded Intuitive with three new lander contracts, with the first, dubbed IM-2, slated to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in Q1 this year. It is expected to touch down at the moon around one week later.
Intuitive's primary goal for this mission will be to drill for water near the Shackleton Crater at the lunar south pole. Additionally, it will carry Nokia's LTE 4G communications system, which will be tested on the moon.
Astrobotic
A final 2025 moon mission featuring Astrobotic's 625 kg payload-capable Griffin lunar lander deserves mention. Set to launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket later this year, Griffin is approximately four times more capable than other landers.
In conclusion, while the highly anticipated crewed missions to the moon involving SpaceX and Blue Origin are still far off, SpaceX's role in transporting other companies' landers to the moon is paving the way for these ambitious crewed missions. With the involvement of private space companies like those mentioned, future IPOs and public offerings could become a reality, further fueling the growth of the space industry.
After observing SpaceX's role in transporting various lunar landers, investors in the finance sector might see potential for returns in the future IPOs of these space companies. With Firefly Aerospace's upcoming launch of its MLV rocket, the company aims to independently transport payloads to the moon, further demonstrating the potential revenue growth in the space exploration industry.
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